A musical journey to the Greek islands (Part 1)

Hello! It’s been 10 days since I arrived in Greece. So far, I have stayed in my hometown, Thessaloniki, but I will soon visit Skyros, my late grandfather’s home island. Although Skyros is a short flight from Thessaloniki (25-30 minutes), I’m going to take the long way round: drive to the east coast of Evia (6 hours), then take the ferry to Skyros (an hour and a half). Once upon a time, I would have made several mixtapes for the road. Instead, I have compiled a 3-hour playlist, a musical journey to the Greek islands. Today, I’m sharing the first half of my playlist, 22 songs in total.

A musical journey to the Greek islands: songs 1-22

I’m kicking off this musical journey to the Greek islands with Natassa Bofiliou, one of my favorite Greek singers. ‘Kalokairi’ (Summer) may not be her most popular song, but it’s the perfect opening track for my playlist.

Last summer, Natassa Bofiliou toured together with Dimitra Galani, a Greek artist that I’ve loved since I was a child. Unfortunately, I did not have the chance to see them performing together, but I was fortunate enough to see them both in London. Both concerts were at the Union Chapel, a beautiful chapel/music venue in Islington, popular with Greek singers.

Released in 2016, ‘Ekdromi’ (‘Excursion’) is one of my all-time-favorite Greek songs. It’s a collaboration with Efstathios Drakos, the frontman of the music band Minor Project.

‘Kai T’ Allo Kalokairi’ (And The Other Summer) is a collaboration with Papercut, released last year.

I’m a big fan of Andriana Babali, a Greek artist who has released six albums in total. Several songs of hers have made it to my playlist: ‘To Galazio Kalokairi’ (The Light Blue Summer) from her 2007 album ‘Des Kathara’, ‘Perase Ena Kalokairi’ (A Summer Has Passed) and ‘Akrogialia’ (Seacoast), both from her 2010 album ‘O Tzon Tzon Zi’, and ‘Mesopelaga’ (Mid-ocean) from her 2014 album ‘To Mazi Einai Dromos’.

Arleta sadly passed away in the summer of 2017, aged 72, but her music remains fresh and relevant. With a career spanning five decades, she is considered one of the main representatives of the Greek New Wave. In 2009, following a 13-year hiatus, she released her double album ‘Kai Pali Hairetai!’, including new songs, as well as new versions of some of her greatest hits, including ‘Bar To Navagio’ (Bar The Shipwreck), ‘Batida De Coco’, and ‘Ta Isiha Vradia – To Tragoudi Tis Erimou’ (The Quiet Evenings – The Song of the Desert); all three have made it to my playlist.

If I had to pick one artist to represent contemporary Greek music, that would easily be Haris Alexiou, one of the most popular female singers in Greece, with a career now spanning well over four decades. For my musical journey to the Greek islands, I have chosen two songs of hers: ‘Katastroma’ (Deck) and ‘To Kyma’ (The Wave).

Born in Alexandria, Egypt, Alkistis Protopsalti has been one of my favorite Greek artists since I was a child growing up in the 1990s. Two songs of hers have made it to my playlist: ‘Pes Mou Thalassa’ (Tell Me Sea) and ‘Aigaio’ (Aegean).

Milva is one of the greatest Italian singers; she has been recording music since the early 1960s. in the 1990s, she collaborated with the late Greek composer Thanos Mikroutsikos. Sang in Greek, ’Thalassa’ (Sea) is my favorite track from her 1994 album ‘Volpe D’ Amore’.

Back when I was a child, Nena Venetsanou would always be a part of my family’s road trips. Her songs never failed to make it to my father’s mixtapes. For this reason, my musical journey to the Greek islands would simply be incomplete without ‘Mes Stou Aigaiou Ta Nisia’ (In The Islands Of The Aegean).

‘Ola Mou Ta Kalokairia’ (All My Summers) is a cover of the song ‘Los Muchachos de mi Bario’ by the Spanish band Chambao. It is performed by Glykeria, a Greek singer with a career spanning four decades, and features in her 2006 album ‘Vrohi Ton Asterion’.

‘To Nisi’ (The Island) is amongst my favorite songs performed by Despina Vandi. The video was filmed in Skiathos, a beautiful island not too far from Skyros. More recently, Despina Vandi has covered some older Greek songs, including ‘Liomeno Pagoto’ (Melted Ice Cream) and ‘Tosa Kalokairia’ (So Many Summers). ‘Tosa Kalokairia’ was written by the Greek composer Mimis Plessas and was first performed by Dakis. It featured in the soundtrack of the 1968 film ‘Gorgones ke Magkes’, which was filmed in Hydra, a small island near Athens.

‘Madalena’ is a 1960 film starring Aliki Vougiouklaki, who won the Best Actress Award for this role in the first Thessaloniki Film Festival. ‘Madalena’ was filmed in Antiparos, a small Cycladic island. Aliki performed some of the songs featuring in the film’s soundtrack, including ‘Mes S’ Afti Ti Varka’ (In This Boat) and ‘Thalassa Platia’ (Wide Sea), both composed by the legendary Manos Hadjidakis.

Also in 1960, Hadjidakis won the Academy Award for Best Original Song with the now classic ‘Ta Pediá tou Pireá’ (Children of Pireaus). The Oscar-winning song, a tribute to the port-town of Pireaus and gateway to the Greek islands, was first performed in Greek by Melina Merkouri in the 1960 film ‘Never on Sunday’. It has since been recorded in many languages: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Dutch, Yiddish, Polish, Czech, Serbian, Croatian, Slovenian, Cantonese, Mandarin, and Portuguese. Here is Eleonora Zouganeli’s cover version.

Further listening

‘A musical journey to the Greek islands (Part 2)’ will continue on 29 August 2020. Stay tuned!

Meanwhile, check out my previously published posts:

‘Now & then: a musical journey to Greece’

‘Traveling to Greece through film & music’

Or, listen to Serifos Radio, an online radio playing music inspired by Serifos island and the Aegean Sea. Only a few of the songs are Greek; it is the kind of music you’d listen to at a beach bar right by the waves with a colorful drink (or two): summertime chill-out lounge meets relaxing tropical house (you get the gist).

Alex

(the Traveling-again-Psychiatrist)